


Bright Eyed & Bushy Tailed

by masulevin



Series: Cullen Appreciation Week 2017 [1]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-23 21:52:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11998671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masulevin/pseuds/masulevin
Summary: Day 1 of Cullen Appreciation Week is all about Cullen as a templar. Here, you see the first time he walks into Kinloch Hold and sees Sophie Amell for the first time.





	Bright Eyed & Bushy Tailed

He wasn’t prepared for the surge of anxiety that comes with sitting on a boat with three other templars, all in full armor, and setting across a lake so deep he can’t see the bottom. The boatman, yet another man to make the boat too heavy, guides them across to the Circle tower that dominates the skyline.

It’s in the middle of a lake, separate from all of the normal Fereldans that live around the lake’s borders, keeping both mages and citizens safe. It’s bigger than Cullen was expecting, more than a hundred feet tall at least, and even the sight of its dark exterior isn’t enough to quell the excitement that still lingers under his anxiety.

He’s been waiting for this day for six years, since the day he was finally accepted into training. Well, he’s really been looking forward to this for even longer, ever since the first time he saw a templar outside of the Chantry, armor polished to a high shine in the morning sun.

The tower, Kinloch Hold, is full of mages who need his help. He’ll be able to do good here, to make a difference, to fulfill the calling that Andraste herself placed in his heart.

And, and, even better, because he’s been sent to Kinloch instead of to one of the Circle towers in the Free Marches or Orlais, he’s still close enough that he can easily visit his family when he has some time away. He’ll be able to see his parents again, and his siblings, and he’ll be able to see how big baby Rosalie has gotten–she was only seven last time he saw her, she’s a teenager now, and…

The boat docks at the base of the tower, breaking Cullen out of his increasingly spiraling thoughts, snapping him back to the reality that is his first assignment as a true Knight-Templar.

They disembark, and Cullen takes the lead as they enter the tower. The main room is full of people–mages in their robes line the walls, watched by templars, all of them ready to see who the Chantry has sent them.

The Knight-Commander steps forward, helmet off, and holds his hand out for Cullen to shake. Cullen does, firmly, then takes his helmet off to match all of the other templars standing around the large room, tucking it under his arm.

A curl, damp at the end with sweat, flops embarrassingly onto his forehead. He meets Knight-Commander Greagoir’s gaze and holds his breath to keep his cheeks from turning red. He raises his free hand to push the curl back with the rest of his hair, where it belongs, holding still until Greagoir turns to greet the knight behind him.

Cullen lets his eyes wander over the gathered mages, looking to see who he’s going to be guarding, to see the kinds of pages he’ll be protecting from now on.

The first mage he sees is a woman about his age, still in apprentice blue, wide pale eyes staring back at him. She’s so pale, face like the porcelain his mother used to guard with her life, hair curling in a wild golden halo around her head. She tilts her head to the side, blinking slowly, and then she smiles at him.

The gangly man standing behind her leans forward to whisper something in her ear, but she doesn’t acknowledge him, doesn’t even blink. She just stares at Cullen until she inspires the blush that he managed to hide from Greagoir and he can’t help but smile back.

Her own face flashes red and she turns away, grabbing that other mage by the elbow to drag him behind her as she disappears deeper in the Circle.

This… isn’t good.


End file.
